The Motion Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) has promulgated the MPEG audio and video standards for compression and decompression algorithms to be used in the digital transmission and receipt of audio and video broadcasts in ISO-11172 (hereinafter the "MPEG Standard"). The MPEG Standard provides for the efficient compression of data according to an established psychoacoustic model to enable real time transmission, decompression and broadcast of CD-quality sound and video images. The MPEG Standard is useful in a variety of products including digital compact cassette decoders and encoders, minidisc decoders and encoders, and other decoders and encoders using the MPEG Standard. In addition, other audio standards, such as the Dolby standard, involve the encoding and decoding of audio and video data transmitted in digital format.
The transmission of compressed digital data uses a data stream that may be received and processed at rates up to 15 megabits per second or higher. Prior systems that have been used to implement the MPEG decompression operation and other digital compression and decompression operations have required expensive digital signal processors and extensive support memory. Other architectures have involved large amounts of dedicated circuitry that are not easily adapted to new digital data compression or decompression applications. Audio and video data compression for digital transmission of information will soon be used in large scale transmission systems for television and radio broadcasts as well as for encoding and playback of audio and video from such media as digital compact cassette and minidisc.